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Constitution of the Czech Republic (1992, as amended 2002) (excerpts related to Elections) (English)
CONSTITUTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC
of 16 December 1992
[As amended by constitutional acts No. 347/1997 Sb., No. 300/2000 Sb., No. 395/2001 Sb., No. 448/2001 Sb., and No. 515/2002 Sb., and as supplemented by Constitutional Act of 22 April 1998, No. 110/1998 Sb., on the Security of the Czech Republic, and Act No. 515/2002 Sb., concerning the Referendum on the Czech Republic’s Accession to the European Union]
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CHAPTER TWO
Legislative Power
ARTICLE 15
(1) The legislative power of the Czech Republic is vested in the Parliament.
(2) The Parliament consists of two chambers, the Assembly of Deputies and the Senate.
ARTICLE 16
(1) In the Assembly of Deputies there shall be 200 Deputies, who are elected to a four-year term of office.
(2) In the Senate there shall be eighty-one Senators, who are elected to a six-year term of office. Every second year elections for one-third of the Senators shall be held.
ARTICLE 17
(1) Elections to both chambers shall be held during the period commencing thirty days prior to the expiration of each electoral term and ending on the day of its expiration.
(2) If the Assembly of Deputies is dissolved, the elections to it shall be held within sixty days of the dissolution.
ARTICLE 18
(1) Elections to the Assembly of Deputies shall be held by secret ballot on the basis of a universal, equal, and direct right to vote, according to the principle of proportional representation.
(2) Elections to the Senate shall be held by secret ballot on the basis of a universal, equal, and direct right to vote, according to the principle of majority rule.
(3) Each citizen of the Czech Republic who has attained the age of eighteen has the right to vote.
ARTICLE 19
(1) Any citizen of the Czech Republic who has the right to vote and has attained the age of twenty-one is eligible for election to the Assembly of Deputies.
(2) Any citizen of the Czech Republic who has the right to vote and has attained the age of forty is eligible for election to the Senate.
(3) Deputies and Senators gain their mandate by their election.
ARTICLE 20
Further conditions upon the exercise of the right to vote, the organization of elections, and the extent of judicial oversight over them shall be provided for by statute.
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CHAPTER THREE
Executive Power
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
ARTICLE 54
(1) The President of the Republic is the head of state.
(2) The Parliament shall elect the President of the Republic at a joint meeting of both chambers.
(3) The President of the Republic shall not be responsible for the performance of his duties.
ARTICLE 55
The President of the Republic assumes her office upon taking the oath of office. The President of the Republic’s term of office lasts for five years and begins on the day she takes the oath of office.
ARTICLE 56
The election shall be held during the final thirty days of the term of office of the incumbent President of the Republic. If the office of the President of the Republic becomes vacant, the election shall be held within thirty days of it becoming vacant.
ARTICLE 57
(1) Any citizen eligible for election to the Senate may be elected President.
(2) No person may be elected President more than twice in succession.
ARTICLE 58
(1) A group of at least ten Deputies or ten Senators is entitled to nominate a candidate.
(2) The candidate who receives an absolute majority of the votes of all Deputies and an absolute majority of the votes of all Senators is elected President of the Republic.
(3) Should none of the candidates receive an absolute majority of the votes of all Deputies and all Senators, a second round of the election shall be held within fourteen days of the first.
(4) The candidate who received the highest number of votes in the Chamber of Deputies and the candidate who received the highest number of votes in the Senate shall advance into the second round.
(5) If more than one candidate receive the same highest number of votes, either in the Assembly of Deputies or in the Senate, the votes cast for them in both chambers shall be added together. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes calculated in this manner shall advance into the second round.
(6) The candidate who receives an absolute majority of the votes of Deputies present and an absolute majority of the votes of Senators present shall be elected.
(7) If no candidate is elected President of the Republic in the second round of the election either, within fourteen days thereof, a third round of the election shall be held, in which the candidate from the second round who receives an absolute majority of the votes of the Deputies and Senators present shall be elected.
(8) If no candidate is elected President of the Republic even in the third round, new elections shall be held.
ARTICLE 59
(1) The Chairman of the Assembly of Deputies shall administer the oath of office to the President-elect at a joint meeting of both chambers.
(2) The President-elect shall take the following oath of office: "I pledge loyalty to the Czech Republic. I pledge to uphold its Constitution and laws. I pledge on my honor to carry out my duties in the interest of all the people, to the best of my knowledge and conscience."
ARTICLE 60
If the President-elect refuses to take the oath of office or takes it with reservations, he shall be deemed not to have been elected.
ARTICLE 61
The President of the Republic may resign her office by submitting her resignation to the Chairperson of the Assembly of Deputies.
ARTICLE 62
The President of the Republic:
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l) shall call a referendum on the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union and declare the result thereof.
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ARTICLE 63
(1) In addition, the President of the Republic:
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f) calls elections to the Assembly of Deputies and the Senate;
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
ARTICLE 87
(1) The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction:
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d) over constitutional complaints against final decisions or other encroachments by public authorities infringing constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights and basic freedoms;
e) over remedial actions from decisions concerning the certification of the election of a Deputy or Senator;
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l) over remedial actions from a decision of the President of the Republic declining to call a referendum on the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union;
m) to determine whether the manner in which a referendum on the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union was held is in harmony with the Constitutional Act on the Referendum on the Czech Republic's Accession to the European Union and with the statute issued in implementation thereof.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Territorial Self-Government
ARTICLE 99
The Czech Republic is subdivided into municipalities, which are the basic territorial self-governing units, and into regions, which are the higher territorial self-governing units.
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ARTICLE 101
(1) Municipalities shall be independently administered by their representative body.
(2) Higher self-governing regions shall be independently administered by their representative body.
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ARTICLE 102
(1) Members of representative bodies shall be elected by secret ballot on the basis of a universal, equal, and direct right to vote.
(2) Representative bodies shall have a four-year electoral term. The circumstances under which new elections for representative bodies shall be called prior to the expiration of an electoral term shall be designated by statute.
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Appendix B
CONSTITUTIONAL ACT of
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THE PROLONGATION OF ELECTORAL TERMS
ARTICLE 10
If during a period of a state of emergency, a condition of threat to the State, or a state of war, the conditions in the Czech Republic do not permit the holding of elections by the deadline prescribed for regular electoral terms, the deadline may be extended by statute, however for no longer than six months.
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